MOSCOW. March 10 (Interfax) - The launch of an Angara-1.2 light rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome is scheduled for March 15, the Pro Kosmos media outlet reported on Monday.
"The launch for the Russian Defense Ministry will take place from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region at 1:30 p.m. Moscow time, and, because it is secret, the number of satellites and their characteristics are not disclosed," the media outlet said in a report published on its website.
The previous launch of a light Angara rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome took place on September 17, 2024.
Angara is a family of Russian modular-type launch vehicles with various cargo carrying capacity created on the basis of universal rocket modules with oxygen-kerosene engines. The family includes light to heavy class launch vehicles with cargo carrying capacity ranging from 3.5 tonnes (Angara-1.2) to 38 tonnes (Angara-A5V) on the low near-earth orbit.
Angara rockets should replace Proton-M rockets. Proton rockets have been in operation since the middle of the 1960s. The Proton-M, a modernized version of the rocket, has taken payloads to the orbit since 2001.